Lloyd Alexander is best known for his young adult fantasy patterned after Welsh mythology. In “The Iron Ring,” he tries something completely new, basing his story on the mythology of India. The author’s note reads, in part:
“Admittedly, this mythology may seem alien, strange, even forbiddingly complex. As in any encounter with a different culture, what appears difficult or incomprehensible quickly grows familiar. The farther we journey through its rich landscape, the more we understand that what lies beneath the brilliant, exotic surface is, in essence, a world we clearly recognize.”
We begin the story in the kingdom of Sundari, where the young king Tamar is sleeping in the royal chambers. He is awakened by a loud noise – a king from a far off land has arrived at the palace, with an entourage of elephants and servants. He demands to see Tamar immediately, although it is the middle of the night. Ever trying to be courteous, Tamar sees him, and indulges his guest in a game of chance. Tamar wins every throw of the dice, until the very last bet, when the mysterious King Jaya demands that the bet be made, a life for a life. Tamar refuses, but the king presses the matter until Tamar agrees. After so many wins, he can’t lose, can he? But he does. King Jaya places an iron ring on Tamar’s finger and demands that Tamar travel to Jaya’s kingdom, to live out his life as Jaya demands.
Tamar awakens the next morning to find that no one else in the palace remembers seeing King Jaya, and he wonders if he dreamed the whole encounter. But he’s still wearing the ring. His dharma, the sense of moral right and wrong he possesses that tells him how to act, insists that he travel to King Jaya’s land and pay his debt. His counselors disagree, insisting that it was just a dream, but Tamar knows he has to go.
He takes with him his teacher, Rajaswami, and his trusted horse, as they head out on their adventure. Here the story takes a typical Alexander-like turn; they make acquaintances along the way who soon become traveling companions. Much like “The Wizard of Oz” by Baum, they each have a mission they are trying to fulfill, and Tamar helps them as best as he can with their quests. In the end, they each turn out to help him.
I found this book very interesting on a lot of levels. The tone and flavor of the book is different from Alexander’s usual work; you can almost smell the curry and cinnamon in the air. The strict adherence to the concept of dharma was intriguing – the main characters in the book would not go against what they believed to be the greater good. Wouldn’t it be a different world if we all had that kind of integrity?
Most interesting to me was the system of caste, where each segment of society was broken up into levels of worthiness totally dependent on their station in life. I had read a bit about the caste system before this, but the story helped to illustrate it more clearly for me. Tamar, as a king, is of the highest caste, and he has been told by his teacher that he must never, ever lose his caste, as it is the most important thing he possessed. He must never touch anyone of a lesser caste, eat their food, enter their homes, or associate with them in any way. Near the end of the book, Tamar is forced to live as a chandala, a member of society so low, they don’t even have a caste, and he learns that caste is nothing; personal honor and friendships are everything.
An interesting read with adventure, mystery, a fairy tale/parable, and a smidge of romance, this book has it all.
(This book was published by Penguin Putnam in 1997.)
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